Jewish Group Slams Polish Religious Rite As Anti-Semitic April 27, 2006
WARSAW -- A Jewish rights group on Wednesday protested to the Polish government over an Easter ritual held at a famous Roman Catholic sanctuary in southern Poland, claiming that the ceremony was tainted by anti-Semitism.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center urged Polish foreign minister Stefan Meller to discipline organizers of the Stations of the Cross ceremony at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a site to be visited by Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to Poland in May.
Shimon Samuels, director for International Relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which tracks down Nazi war criminals and fights anti-Semitism, urged Poland "to take measures to discipline the organizers in order to ensure that this anti-Semitic desecration is never repeated".
Samuels protested against costumes worn by people taking part in the ritual, which he said were "Jewish stereotypes in garb, beards and Stars of David".
The Kalwaria Zebrzydowska sanctuary hosted its annual Stations of the Cross ceremony on Good Friday, April 14, a ritual that involves scenes depicting the Passion of Christ.
The procession draws tens of thousands of the faithful. This year it was presided over by the Archbishop of Krakow, Stanislaw Dziwisz.
"This ceremony contravenes Polish responsibility to combat anti-Semitism under its obligation to the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE]," Samuels said in a statement.
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska was a favorite site of Polish-born Pope John Paul II, where he came to pray as a child and that he visited during pilgrimages to his homeland.
John Paul's successor Pope Benedict XVI is to visit the sanctuary on May 27 during his four-day trip to Poland.